Wondering why the article really only speaks of Ghana, yet the headline speaks of Africa. Africa is a huge continent. Headlines like this reinforce the idea common amongst Americans that there is one large Africa, neglecting all of its different areas. If it were some other country like India or Poland, I don't think Asia or Europe would be similarly featured in the headline. Just a thought.
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Let’s see just this month, three of my uber drivers (two are first generation Americans from African immigrant parents and one immigrated to the US 5 years ago) are all moving to Africa this year. They are all college educated. One runs a successful business he started 3 years ago (he will work remotely). All drive uber in addition to other jobs because they hustle, just like my great grandparents who immigrated here from Ireland and Germany. They see more economic opportunity in Africa.
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Tonight on German television ZDF program Frontal21 clearly illustrates the challenge in Africa of farming without a market. Also l remember visiting a cocoa farmer in Ivory Coast who had never tasted the essential end product: chocolate!
What is going on at the Times? There's nothing "sexy" about nearly starving because you can only produce 20-30% yield on your crop. These are human beings tackling the problems that threaten their lives. These "millennials" see a larger problem coming down the pipe and they are taking action. Although I did enjoy reading this article, there were many portions of it that bothered me. I cancelled my NTY subscription last week just because of this type of misleading "reporting" I am seeing, and this article drove home the point for me.
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This is exactly what Ghana needs and the tools for them to succeed in this globalized world are at their disposal. I taught some of this generation as a Peace Corps volunteer in a small Senior Secondary Technical school, (SSTS) which focused training on agric students. They had to take chemistry and school started to offer business training. I had some really bright entrepreneurial students and as the Internet evolved and expanded in Ghana, their futures and fortunes could be assured IF they access to land to farm. Hopefully the government is protecting these young entrepreneurs and not turning a blind eye to the illegal gold mining operations by Chinese in areas with intensive agriculture.
3
This is a poor story for the NY Times. I expected better. It’s a story about farming in GHANA. It’s misleading to suggest this is about all of Africa, and it perpetuates the stereotype that Africa is one country.
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@Olu Ahmed.....I disagree. It's a good story with a misleading headline
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I strongly hope the effortts to ramp up commercial farming in africa are successful sooner than later. And i hope its able to be done without poisoning the continent with chemicals! I hope a string organic may vement shows the world it can be done!
Agriculture is only but one aspect of the positive efforts millennials are making in Africa. This generation has nothing to do with their forefathers waiting for potential westerner to tele them what to do. In every sector, from communications, art to health policies, they are getting things done. One of the main reasons to that is STABILITY. Give me stability and I will give you a developed country.
3
I find it remarkable that this article is so poorly reported. First, grasscutter are not "large rats"; a simple google search would have revealed to the writer that they are members of the porcupine family. Second, not a single mention here of any basic economics: farmers are business people like anyone else the difference being, however, that they do not have to participate in the economy like those of us who sell our labor. That is, they can keep the food they raise and simply live off of it. Which is what many farmers in Africa do. Why? Because they are not getting decent prices at market! Farmers are not stupid - why sell when the prices are too low? Might as well eat it yourself! If you look at prices in Africa you will find that they are often kept low so people in cities can afford the produce. As long as this policy is pursued, farmers do not have an incentive to produce. It's that simple. If prices go up, farmers will respond. Instead the article puts it all on the farmers - they don't know how to grow food, they're not using modern methods, etc. Some of this may be true but wouldn't they then seek to invest to meet demand? That's what econ 101 would predict. I suggest it is government policy aimed at keeping prices low for urban elites - which was my experience when I lived in Accra. Please look deeper.
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@Joe
Thanks for the massive correction with regards to "large rats". Like you stated, a simple google search would have corrected this misnomer.
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this is a great point. I would love a more in depth look at why they're importing so much food and prices are so low. if the demand is high then farming should be a a great way to make a living.
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Want to join the chorus. Bravo. Great piece. As a retired UN expert, I always remember two things I heard in Zambia and in Sudan: farmers know that agriculture IS a business; and with the Nile as a water resource, no one should be poor.
1
This is a wonderful wonderful article. I wish NYT would go out of its way to find more examples around the world where the younger generation is taking initiative and coming up with implementing solutions to their country's or community's problems. We need to find and showcase people like this:
“I was really angry with our country,” said Mr. Ansah-Amprofi, 39. “How can we be importing this much vegetables, and have a lot of youth on the street? How can we have all this land, good weather, a lot of water bodies, but we still are importing onions?”
“I went straight to my home and googled, ‘How difficult is it to farm?’”
And who then go out and deal with making a solid change. Many examples were noted in this article of Africans taking a stand.
I applaud you!!
NYT we need article after article like this. Too much news covers the crazy and the hopeless.
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Parts of some African countries are extraordinarily fertile and have ample water; others will scarcely support bare subsistence living.
It is no coincidence that China has invested in long-term leases of huge amounts of fertile lands in some African countries in order to supply food not so much for Africans, but primarily for Chinese. Some corrupt African leaders have been bribed to enter into these leases with no thought for the needs of their countrymen.
Most African countries, as diverse as those in Europe, have land-owning and inheritance rules that over time have reduced most “farms” to plots that are fractions of an acre, a size hardly amenable to the large-scale, mechanized farming necessary to generate significant profits.
I am all for feel-good stories, but I think the African “millennials” (no such thing in most African countries) will have a tough row to hoe in finding land, water, mechanization and financing to become “agripreneurs.” Besides, the Chinese have already taken control of much of the best land available for farming.
Nonetheless, best wishes and every success to those embarking on this journey.
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This sounds really good!
Any idea of how the international organisations are willing to provide support in terms of research about issues like climate change?
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Wonderful article! Changing the inner narrative.
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This article should be food for thought for similar countries and regions in the Caribbean, such as Puerto Rico, that import most of their food while having fertile but uncultivated land.
National resources count for little compared with human resources.
It is refreshing to see farmers doing well.
1
Parts of some African countries are extraordinarily fertile and have ample water; others will scarcely support bare subsistence living.
It is no coincidence that China has invested in long-term leases of huge amounts of fertile lands in some African countries in order to supply food not so much for Africans, but primarily for Chinese. Some corrupt African leaders have been bribed to enter into these leases with no thought for the needs of their countrymen.
Most African countries, quite as diverse as those in Europe, have land-owning and inheritance rules that over time have reduced most “farms” to plots that are fractions of an acre, a size hardly amenable to the large-scale, mechanized farming necessary to generate significant profits.
I am all for feel-good stories, but I think the African “millennials” (no such thing in most African countries) will have a tough row to hoe in finding land, water, mechanization and financing to become “agripreneurs.” Besides, the Chinese have already taken control of much of the best land available for farming.
2
These young entrepreneurs have a vision that could transform their economy, and create a new path for success for small farming villages. I wish them well.
Given that the trend is moving towards locally-grown food, it only makes sense for Arica to try and do the same, and to do it themselves. The trick would be dealing with the climate conditions (which are likely to worsen), and human-wildlife balance. Snails and giant rats seem like a relatively low-risk, high yield formula. Wish them success!
1
Hundreds of years ago before the Europeans came to Africa, regions within the continent measured their well being and economic wealth based on domesticated animals and crops and amount of produce that could be stockpiled without waste. African Kingdoms grew and traded in food. A king based is power and wealth on food for his people. Gold and diamonds were an afterthought until the Europeans arrived. European nations were built on the backs of these countries in Africa literally and figuratively. It is nice to see the new generation returning with knowledge back to their own, well..their own wealth that that always belonged to them in the fist place.
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@Thomas
Simply not true. Hundreds of years before the arrival of Europeans, all of sub-Saharan Africa was populated by small, isolated groups of hunter gatherers, the oldest descendants of the first modern humans, who fought for their survival, their cultures and their ancient lands, with little success, against the intrusion of Bantu tribes who measured wealth only by the number of cattle they possessed.
Arab slavers traded in the miserable captives produced by Africa's endless internal wars and conflicts.
This was all before the arrival of Europeans in Sub-Saharan Africa..
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That first picture is a bunch of top bar hives for raising honey bees not boxes for growing snails and rats.
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Everyone's talking about how nice this is. Fast forward a century when the wild life we all love has nowhere to live thanks to more habitat loss.
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There is no habitat loss if a balance is struck. land must be managed and hopefully they are doing so.
It is so refreshing to read such positive news for a change.
Thanks Ms. Nir for this wonderful read.
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I'm so happy to have read such positive, uplifting news in the morning. Thank you, NYT, for promoting this.
I would like to see similarly positive articles to break the cycle of reading about Trump.
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@Adham El-Batal The first step is to stop bring Trump into your comments for an article that has nothing to do with him, good or bad.
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Is there such a thing as an "African millennial"? Are there Gen-Xers in Africa? Was there a baby boom to produce Baby Boomers? Aren't these generational terms relevant to the USA only? NYTimes recently covered the distinctions between Millennials and Gen-Xers, and none of those cultural touchpoints or characteristics of Millennials seem to be appropriate for describing any generation in Ghana.
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These young people are the future of Africa! Lead the world Africa!
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I think that Africa offers great potential for farming and production of crops in the future. We should look at farming not as it was in the past, where most of the farmers were uneducated. The educated farmers of the future will bring new technologies and knowledge of farming to produce food to feed many. Food should be produced locally in a nation that offers many possibilities and be able to offer many jobs opportunities.
It necessary to remove the stigma associated with being a farmer, and provide a degree in farming together with business skills. Food is what keeps us healthy. It should be a profession we admire and not look down. We need to change our mindset.
As the world changes, our mind should change and adjust to new ways we experience the world and all the possibilities it might offer.
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Thanks for a fine story about African development. The high yields and low prices of imported produce stress the local economy. One also has to mention the carbon footprint of global food distribution.
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Too much GMO and antibiotic laced food in the US. These young farmers can feed their country AND export edible food.
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@rixax Literally nothing wrong with GMOs and antibiotics.
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@M V needs to read up on how the overuse of antibiotics in animal husbandry is creating a crisis in combatting infections. And also on how high tech Ag (eg, GMOs) perpetuates African dependency on outside forces, namely multinational corporations.
This whole Times story is about the growing strength of self-reliance as a virtuous criterion for activities such as growing a community’s food.
5
This line jumped out at me... Africa is "a continent that holds about 65 percent of the world’s most arable uncultivated land". Wow. The potential is stupendous. Growing locally is important on so many levels. I will follow this story with interest.
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Thank you for this uplifting article.
The biggest gains may be for Africa but there is need to interest young people in farming as sustainable life in Asia and the Americas as well.
14
This makes me smile. People taking control of their country and their lives.
Please keep printing this kind of positive news.
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Glad to see NYTimes realize that there are modern farmers in Africa. People who want to use technology and the best tools to improve local resilience and food security.
The line that the US and EU keyboard-warrion faux farmers use: "there's enough food in the world, we just need to distribute it" bugs me to no end. Let Africa speak for herself, and let African farmers and scientists do what they need to do.
Stop the colonialism and paternalism of keeping technology like GMO and improved crops from Africa. And stop romanticizing subsistence farming.
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@memsomerville I see pushing GMOs and the agro-chemicals that go with them as the worst of colonialism and paternalism. A combination of traditional practices, knowledge and crops together with new farming tools, technologies and crops can feed the world and heal the earth without continuing the spread of agrochemicals and GMOs that kill farm workers and the long-term health of the soil and its ability to produce crops while destabilizing the climate.
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@Florence Reed It's too bad that you don't know about the stories like the GMO cowpea developed by Nigerian scientists for Nigerian farmers, which can greatly reduce pesticides. There is also a project to save bananas, and one for cassava, among many others.
People with Western misinformation on this topic are actually hurting these kinds of efforts by Africans. Stop keyboard white-savioring and let Africans do the work for their important food crops.
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@memsomerville might want to read materials put out by the African Food Sovereignty Alliance, the African Centre for Biodiversity, or La Via Campesina in which knowledge Africans , including smallholder farmers, speak for themselves—opposing GMOs because they know that the hype is just that, hype, and that the negative effects are too much to pay.
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Not all and maybe not many of these young new farmers will succeed but just enough may thrive and revolutionize food production to help Ghana not only achieve food self-sufficiency but diversify it's economy. All that money invested locally rather than being sent off to the Netherlands can only benefit Ghana.
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@John
What about those who are going to fail? Is there any social welfare system to help them bounce back in these nations? I guess they know better than me.
Thank you NYT and Ms. Nir for publishing an interesting article about educated entrepreneurship, drive, activism and hope from young people in Ghana. We have long needed more balanced reporting on that huge and diverse bit of our world called Africa.
I hope these new professionals in Ghana can learn from our mistakes and build a better more healthy and humane farming infrastructure for their country.
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Why is the onion from The Netherlands? Because the Dutch farmer can deliver it more cheaply and reliably than a local grower. Some of these agripreneurs are going to find out just how much they don't know about farming and farm economics. It will be tough to maintain enthusiasm when their money is gone.
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@SA maybe so, but breaking any cycle of reliance has to start somewhere. It's like the first electric cars, which were inconvenient and more costly, but demonstrated it was theoretically possible to travel without gasoline.
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@SA I invite you to think beyond calculations culminating in cynical conclusions. Kudos to the Dutch; encouragement to Ugandans trying to better their lives. Let's hope they succeed.
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@SA
So because the Dutch can currently grow and deliver Onions more efficiently, the locals shouldn't try to give it a go themselves? What a defeatist mindset.
2